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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28857141">To Leave the Past Behind</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolarQueen/pseuds/SolarQueen'>SolarQueen</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Dark Waters [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(technically) - Freeform, A character glossary, But with ✨ spice ✨, Chronological, Crew as Family, Gen, Pre-Canon, Prequel, Protective Zuko (Avatar), Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, oneshots, protective crew</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 08:36:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,710</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28857141</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolarQueen/pseuds/SolarQueen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Some people just got picked up for a ride and decided not to leave, some people needed shelter, and some of us answered a call for help from old friends.”</p><p>Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation manages to pull the loyalty of a variety of individuals; as such, the Wani is home to a collection of those with spotted pasts and burned records. Upon the aged navy ship, each of them leaves behind what happened on land and forges something new with the young, banished Prince, and with each other.<br/>They're a crew, they look after one another.</p><p>OR</p><p>A series of character profiles for my Wani crew, featuring character-focused oneshots.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Iroh &amp; Zuko's Crew (Avatar), Jee &amp; Zuko's Crew (Avatar), Zuko &amp; Zuko's Crew (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Dark Waters [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2116137</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>83</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>To Leave the Past Behind</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>If you're here before you've read Fortune Favours the Bold, I would highly recommend reading up to Chapter 5 of that as many of these oneshots/details are written after that chapter. You don't have to if you'd rather a picture of everyone before you read, but yeah, just in case.<br/>So, warning for that as the details section will contain factors from the chapter, but not explicitly beyond (no spoilers post-chapter 5 basically)</p>
    </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Character Art:<br/> - <a href="https://emi-artblock.tumblr.com/post/641135968133464064/drawing-of-michi-from-fourtune-favours-the-bold">emi-artblock</a></p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“In a single moment, the man who’s been bringing him food every evening enters as bright as he usually does.”</p>
<p>
  <em> <strong>Details as of 99AG</strong> </em>
</p><ul>
<li>
<em> Age </em>- 35</li>
<li>
<em> Notable Features </em>- Hair kind of like that guy from Cowboy Bebop’s (Brown); Muted Orange Eyes; Large shoulders and generally quite muscular</li>
<li>
<em> Notable Habits/Traits </em>- Chef; Very particular about his space; Great hugger; a SUNSHINE man</li>
<li>
<em> Place of Birth </em>- Caldera, Fire Nation</li>
<li>
<em> Bending </em>- Non-Bender</li>
<li>
<em> Weapon of Choice </em>- Bow and Arrow</li>
<li>
<em> A Song I Associate with Them</em> - <a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/6e13443Ve7RGcAUScTgYtl?si=EZO3NK6NQT2H4z8UDMGH5w">The Last of the Real Ones</a> by Fall Out Boy</li>
</ul><hr/>
<p>
  <span>If one were to say the Fire Nation had had an eventful week, Michi would nod and agree. Now if someone were to say the Fire </span>
  <em>
    <span>Palace</span>
  </em>
  <span> had had an eventful week, Michi would say </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck you, that’s putting it lightly</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It started with the news that Crown Prince Iroh’s son Lu Ten had fallen in battle at Ba Sing Se.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The information had spread like a tidal wave in monsoon season, springing from the battlefield to the messengers, swimming from them to the Royal Family and slowly trickling down through the gossiping ears of the palace workers, then to their families, and the rest of the public.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The kitchens had heard early on, one of the servers overhearing it during an evening meal where Prince Ozai had callously told his children of their cousin’s passing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Michi hadn’t quite known what to feel, it had been several months since Lu Ten and his father had last visited from the battlefield, and the last time wasn’t for as long as he thinks they’d hoped. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lu Ten had been a frequent visitor of the kitchens, he had quite the appetite, had since he was young from what the older staff said, and would always knock and grin like he was doing something he shouldn’t. Then, when the young Prince Zuko and Princess Azula came along, he would bring them, and when he was at battle the children would come alone, often quiet and worried, like they’d be struck if they were caught.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Michi had spoken to Lu Ten when he was called upon, it would’ve been a stretch to call them friends, no one in the Royal Family was friends with their attendants, except, perhaps, Princess Ursa, when she wasn’t under the glaring eye of her husband. But he will always note that the Prince tried very hard to be kind in places the others of higher ranks would not be: picking things up if he knocked them over, telling them gently if he disliked something that was made.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Michi will always say that those traits passed themselves to Prince Zuko much faster than Princess Azula; though that isn’t to say the small girl wouldn’t break her cold facade when Michi would leave out her favourite treat for the siblings’ nightly visits.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s the late evening of the day of the meal, the news has been passed through its channels and it’s working through the tangled avenues of the upper class down and down into the backstreets of the city. Something official will be released soon.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Michi is the last in the kitchen for the night, he usually is, and as he hauls a bag of flour onto its rightful shelf, he hears a noise from behind him. He nearly jumps out of his skin, shoving the sack above his head and spinning to find a figure in the shadows.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Spirits, your Highness,” he breathes, hand against his heart, “you scared me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The young boy, eleven as of recently, sniffles, coming out of his hiding place near the doorway with tear-streaked cheeks and wide golden eyes, “I’m sorry.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Michi softens just at the sight, “it’s alright, your Highness.” He brushes the dust from his apron and pulls it off over his head, crossing the kitchen space to lean against the closest counter and look down at him, “was there something you needed?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Prince seems to struggle with his words, his mouth twisting as he works up what little courage he needs to speak, “is Lu Ten really gone?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Michi pauses, of course he’d ask someone else, that father of his is- Michi shouldn’t curse out a man he hardly knows, let alone a Prince of his Nation (no matter how much he may deserve it).</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes,” he says after a moment, inhaling slowly and offering Prince Zuko what he can, “I’m sorry.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Prince inhales, shaky and wet, but nods like he knew it was the truth but he just needed someone honest to tell him; he pivots, “Father says Uncle isn’t coming home, is that true?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That- Michi refrains from clenching his fists, not when they’re in plain sight, and tries to keep his thoughts from continuing on their dangerous path of things Prince Ozai would execute him for thinking of even for a second.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sure Prince Iroh will return when he sees it fit,” he tries, because he cannot guess for certain how long it may take for Prince Iroh to come back “he is grieving, your Highness, his son is with the spirits now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Would my father grieve for me if I were to fall in battle?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The question is immediate, like it’s been on the boy’s mind since dinner, possibly - probably - longer than that. It’s painful, because Michi immediately thinks </span>
  <em>
    <span>no</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and he despises that even with what little he’s seen of Firelord Azulon’s youngest son, he knows from whisperings down the palace ivy just what Prince Ozai thinks of his oldest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I cannot say,” he says instead of whatever else the boy may be fearing, “your father doesn’t frequent the kitchens enough for me to know him very well.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And it’s preferred he doesn’t.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Prince Zuko nods, his face scrunching up in that way that’s pulled at Michi’s heartstrings since the kid was a toddler, “what about mother?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That is much easier to be honest about, “Princess Ursa would grieve for days were she to lose you, Your Highness.” He leans down, lowering his voice to an almost conspiratorial whisper, “so I’d recommend not going anywhere.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I wasn’t going to,” the Prince whispers back, something lighter in the bounce of his toes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good,” Michi nods, “is there anything else?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There’s less hesitate than when the Prince first wandered in, though his mouth still works around the words like he isn’t sure how to say them, “Azula started laughing at me when I was crying, I just,” he swallows, “I wanted to get away.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That, Michi knows, is not an uncommon occurrence - not that the Prince tends to come to the kitchens in his need to get away, but the likelihood that Michi was simply one of few people left outside of their quarters is high. The Princess is known to be much more like her father than anyone would prefer, unfortunately, Princess Ursa has done little outside of giving up hope on the girl to really right her wrongs; to say the staff are more often afraid of her than they would be another child, is, well, an understatement. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And though Michi encountered others like her in his own youth, it’s unsettling to watch such a family dynamic go forth and feel he, nor the others he works with, can do anything about it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He sighs, quietly into his hand and pushes off from the counter. The Prince watches him cross the room to one of the storerooms next to them, pushing around on the shelves until he finds what he’s looking for wrapped in white tissue paper.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hotcakes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He comes back out and makes a show of looking around before holding the bundle out to the Prince, “perhaps if you presented her with these she may be more willing to talk.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The staff have seen the Princess cry. It just takes a lot to get there.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Prince Zuko stares between the pasty and him, eyes wide, “am I allowed?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If you’re not caught, who’s to know?” Michi says.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I won’t tell.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Neither will I.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Prince takes the bundle and runs.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Within almost the next two days, things somehow get worse. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Michi and the others in the kitchens get word in the early hours of the morning that Firelord Azulon is dead, Prince Ozai has taken his place, and Princess Ursa is gone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>People can and will make what they want out of those facts, it’ll be the opposite of whatever officials come out with, Michi has a feeling whatever the staff assume is the correct version of events - perhaps he’s biased - </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Prince Zuko is the Crown Prince.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He and Princess Azula have lost their mother.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So it’s no surprise when Michi finds himself with a shadow in his kitchen again, hiding more fervently than he had the days prior, and with more of an empty look upon his face than then too.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is there a reason you’re hiding from me, your Highness?” He calls after a moment.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Prince startles, stepping into the room more out of surprise than a real willingness to do so. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He gulps, his eyes wide with a fear he rarely exhibits around anyone, “will you tell my father I’m here?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Michi tilts his head, watching the boy carefully, “now why would I do that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Because father is the Firelord now and you have to.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He hums, “I suppose if it were ordered I report to His Majesty should you enter here, I would have to, lest I lose my head.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Prince winces, taking a step back but not immediately bolting. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Michi makes a point to move loudly through the kitchen, pulling a scrap of paper from the notice board above his work station and tearing it in half. He finds the nearest pencil and scribbles the fastest, crudest Blue Spirit from memory; it’s awful - Michi is nowhere near the artists his mother was - but he </span>
  <em>
    <span>thinks</span>
  </em>
  <span> it’s decipherable.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He turns the drawing to face the Prince, the boy squints at the sketch for a second before seeming to realise what it’s supposed to be. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Michi chuckles, “but a spirit? Now, what sort of nuisance would I be if I bothered the Firelord about such trifling matters?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The quirk of Zuko’s mouth is enough to give him some semblance of hope the kid will be alright.</span>
</p>
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